


Let Me Help

by cowboysrappin



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Action & Romance, Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Battle of Wakanda (Avengers: Infinity War), Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, Civil War (Marvel), Civil War Team Captain America, Empath, Empathy, Eye of Agamatto, F/M, Falling In Love, Healing, Hydra (Marvel), Infinity Gems, Loki's Scepter (Marvel), Love, On the Run, Past Brainwashing, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Civil War (Marvel), Telepathy, The Tesseract (Marvel), Wakanda (Marvel), Wakandan Technology
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-05-02 12:05:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19198447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cowboysrappin/pseuds/cowboysrappin
Summary: Jennifer King has had her telepathic and empathetic abilities as long as she can remember. They come to good use when she meets the Winter Soldier, broken and lost, terrified of himself and Hydra. How will she help Bucky? Will she end up in prison for it? And as time goes on, what will happen? And what of romantic attractions?





	1. Let Me Help

_"Who am I? What happened to me?"_ Jennifer flinches as she hears the thought and feels an onslaught of guilt, fear, pain, and confusion. She stops in the middle of Washington DC's sidewalk. She swivels her head wildly, looking toward the source of the extreme empathetic and telepathic pain. She shudders anxiously as the connection persists. She looks down the windy road, confused. Her empathetic powers allowed her to sense the emotions of one within ten yards of her normally. As for telepathy, she has to be next to the person to hear any thoughts. Only in extreme circumstances has she felt emotions from farther away, and never has she heard thoughts without a close proximity. 

_My gosh, this is insane!_

Jennifer walks down the road, despite her home being the other way. She searches for whoever is feeling and thinking these emotions and thoughts. She picks up her pace until she is running. Her senses lead her to a lonely alley that she would have missed if it weren't for her psychological senses. She slows to a walk as she approaches.

She peers in the alley. The only living thing Jennifer sees is a man crouched against the wall of a building. He is very hidden. Again, Jennifer would've missed him if she hadn't sensed him. He is shaking and alert. Jennifer feels more emotion than she'd ever felt from another human being. _"Who am I? What happened to me?"_ echo across her head, as he mentally screams his questions. She can feel the rolling psychological pain he is experiencing.

 _Dissociative fugue?_ Jennifer supposes. Dissociative fugue is a psychological disorder where one cannot deal with his stressful environment anymore. The brain locks away any information about his identity and puts him in a "trance." During this "trance," the afflicted goes miles away from his home without thinking about it. When he "wakes up," he has no idea who or where he is. 

Jennifer had met one man with the rare disorder when she was in her hometown of Salt Lake City, but had never met another one.

Jennifer slowly walks toward the man. The man, upon realizing her presence, shifts away from her. His face is covered by his long, dark hair that appears to be damp. He wears black clothes, that also appear to be somewhat damp. Jennifer crouches next to the man.

Upon physical contact, Jennifer can feel more and hear more, even dig through memory. Wanting to know as much as she can to help the man, she slowly reaches her hand out to touch his shoulder. 

The man flinches away from her hand. "Don't touch me!" he says in a dark voice, the first words he had spoken since Jennifer arrived.

Jennifer puts her hands in her lap and sits down in a more comfortable position. "Alright, I won't, I promise," she says with as much understanding as she can muster, which turns out to be a lot. She sits next to the man for some time. He repeatedly glances at her. Jennifer feels suspicion growing in him. _"Is she with them?"_ Unsure of who _them_ is, Jennifer tries to search his memories, knowing that memory and emotion are deeply connected. If his emotions were this extreme, maybe his memory is too. But she doesn't find any access to his memory.

"I won't hurt you, I promise. You actually are probably more likely to hurt me than I am to hurt you," Jennifer says to comfort him. He shudders when she says that, and guilt builds up. What happened to him? He continues to suspiciously glance over her, but he doesn't leave or ask her to leave. 

Within two minutes, it begins to sprinkle. In the commencing minutes, the rain picks up. And I couldn't have worn anything more than this little jacket, she thinks as she stares at her sea green jacket. I've never seen anyone this hurt before. I have to help him, despite the rain! Jennifer shivers, but stays sitting next to the nameless man.

Her shivering catches the attention of the man. He looks at her again, but without suspicion. Jennifer feels his hints of concern. She smiles lightly. "The rain's not a problem. I'll be fine," she lies as she violently shivers.

He looks away from her, but the concern builds. _"She'll get sick. Just like, just like him."_

 _Who's him?_ Jennifer wonders. She once again confirms she's fine. 

"Just do it," she hears him think. The man unzips his black jacket. He leans over and gently nudges Jennifer onto his chest before covering her with his jacket, using his body heat to keep her warm and his jacket to keep her dry. Jennifer remains unworried, as she feels no malignant feelings toward her from him, only concern. Rather, she takes this as an opportunity to search his memories.

It is difficult. Usually, it takes only physical contact to search. But with this man, Jennifer has to focus on his past. She also has to amp up her sensitivity to his emotions and cognition. Once she does, she gasps inaudibly.

This is no ordinary dissociative fugue patient.

This is the Winter Soldier. 

James Buchanan Barnes, better known as Bucky Barnes. 

Who had been captured by Hydra and brainwashed according to Steve Rogers.

Who had been involved in the wreck in the Potomac.

It is him.

Jennifer digs through his memories. He had fought his child hood friend, Steve Rogers, on the helicarrier, and almost killed him. The Steve broke through the brainwashing, sort of. The man is no longer under Hydra's control, but his memories are fuzzy, and his identity confused. He had saved Steve, not knowing why he did, just that he needed to. He left, and had seen the exhibit on him at the Smithsonian. He had seen himself on TVs, portrayed as a terrorist.

Bracing herself, Jennifer goes deeper into his past and flinches. She sees him falling into the ravine, going into ice, and being tortured and experimented on. Hydra wiped his memories and brainwashed him over and over again. She sees through his eyes as he kills people for Hydra unwillingly. 

She stops and notices a few tears on her face. His emotions are so powerful. He is terrified. Terrified of himself. Terrified of the government finding him. Terrified of Hydra finding him. Terrified of losing himself again. He is burdened with guilt. Guilt from the deaths he's caused. Guilt from almost killing Steve (though he doesn't quite know it's Steve). He is confused. Confused by his surroundings. Confused by his fuzzy memories. Confused by what Steve told him. Confused by his identity. He is in pain. Pain from all those years Hydra used him. He is tired. Tired of running. Tired of hiding. Tired of the pain and confusion and guilt and terror. 

Jennifer wipes her tears off her face. She takes a deep breath and uses another one of her abilities. With physical contact, she can gently change another's emotions. She gently uses her psychic abilities to calm the Soldier down. She feels him shaking less and taking deeper breaths. She feels the fear, guilt, confusion, and pain edging away. She steels herself as she takes upon those emotions herself. Jennifer glances across his body and finds some injuries.

The rain turns to a small drizzle. Jennifer comes to a decision. "I want to help you, but we can't sit in this alley all night. We can go to my place for now," she tells the Soldier quietly. 

He glances at her suspiciously. "I can't trust you."

Jennifer gently uses her telepathy to nudge him in the right direction. She hates doing it, since the Soldier spent seventy years being used and abused via Hydra psychiatry. But they really need to get to her home; it's getting late, and his injuries need to be attended to. And it's not like Jennifer is controlling him. No, she just pushes him toward trusting her and lets him do the rest. "Please. Let me help."

"Okay," he says quietly. He stands up and helps Jennifer up off the ground.

"I'll lead the way!" Jennifer says with a smile as she looks up at the Soldier. She is just under five feet tall, and he is over six.

She grabs his hand and pulls him with her to her apartment. He keeps his head down as they walk there, and they try to keep to the dark areas to avoid anyone seeing them. When they get to the apartment building, Jennifer steers him up the stairs before the lady at the desk could question it. They walk into her apartment on the third floor and she locks the doors and windows and closes the curtains, just in case.

Jennifer gently pushes him on the couch. He doesn't resist, he's too tired to. Jennifer informs him that she'll be back with food and she scurries off to the kitchen. She doesn't make anything fancy. She throws some canned tomato soup on the stove and cooks it while she toasts and butters bread and finds some saltines. She serves the soup into two bowls and throws the crackers and toast on a plate. She grabs some spoons and goes back to her guest.

She sits next to him and puts the food on the coffee table. She hands him a bowl and spoon. "You need to eat something, please."

"I'm not hungry."

"You're hurt and tired. Please, you need to eat something." Despite his stubbornness, Jennifer convinces him to eat without the aid of telepathy. He eats, but flinches at sudden noises and movements. Jennifer eats her own food with him, offering him saltines and toast. "I promise they go well with the soup. You'll like them." Having already learned that he can't fight her when it comes to food, the Soldier eats a few saltines and a slice of toast to make her happy. "Would you like anymore?" He shakes his head seriously.  She smiles sweetly. "Alrighty. Wait right here for a moment."

Jennifer heads to the dresser in her guest room. Her older brother, Ty, and his wife, Rhea, are frequent visitors of Jennifer's. Unfortunately for her brother, he is somewhat forgetful. This means that Jennifer almost always has a few clothes of his. And Ty is much closer to the Soldier's height than Jennifer is, Ty being  five foot eleven inches. She sits through his clothes and finds a soft white tank top and comfortable grey sweat pants. Jennifer sets them on the bed and returns to the living room, where the calmer, her confused soldier is. Though the confusion goes beyond his identity. He is confused by her kindness now.

Jennifer leads him to the guest room and hands him the sweat pants. "Put these on. But don't put the tank top on yet." He nods. Jennifer gestures to a small basket. "Put what you're wearing now in there. I can wash them." Jennifer leaves the room and gently shuts the door. She goes back to the kitchen and finds her first aid kit. She knocks on the guest room door. "May I come in?"

A small, "Yes," is heard. Jennifer walks in and closes the door behind her. She sets the first aid kit and tank top on the dresser and pulls the blankets partially off of the bed. She gently nudges Bucky into a position on the bed where she can help him. She hurriedly does so, because she can tell he'll pass out from exhaustion soon, and she doesn't think she could lift him onto the mattress. He is lying flat on his back. He doesn't resist her pushing him places. Jennifer assumes it is because he hasn't resisted orders for years. She begins to clean cuts on his chest, face, and flesh arm. While doing so, she feels his anxiety rise, but he also grows more weary. He is confused by her presence. He doesn't know who she is or why she is with him.

Jennifer is about to introduce herself when he grabs her wrist with his metal appendage. Though surprised, Jennifer doesn't worry. She is cleaning cuts on his flesh arm, so it's not exactly available. He looks at her in desperation and confusion. "Who are you?" he asks, worry in his voice.

Jennifer smiles. "I'm Jennifer King, and I promise I'll help you," she says gently.

His facial features twist in confusion. "I, I think I'm Bucky. I don't know though."

Jennifer brushes hair out of his eyes. "You're right. Your name is James Buchanan Barnes, but everyone calls you Bucky." She starts to stitch any cuts that need it and to place bandages on those and the others. Jennifer sends calming waves of empathy through her finger tips to him, and she feels him relax. She eventually asks him to roll over onto his back, where she does the same thing. 

When she's done, she grabs the tank top. "Here, I'm done with your cuts. I'll look at them later. You can put this on." He obediently pulls the top on. He can barely keep his eyes open now. Jennifer asks him to lie down and he does. She pulls the blankets over him. "Please, get some rest. You deserve it. I'll be up pretty early, and you can come find me in the morning. But for now, get some sleep, okay?" He nods slowly. Jennifer beams at him. "Alrighty. Good night, Bucky." Jennifer turns to leave but is stopped by a flesh hand grabbing her wrist.

"Stay with me until I'm asleep, _please_. Please, I need something to prove I'm not back there again," Bucky says, voice shaking. 

Jennifer feels his fear that he misplaced his hope, that Hydra will find him again. He is desperate to be free of his abusers, but he can't quite believe he's not in their custody once again. Jennifer sits on the chair beside the bed. "Of course, Bucky." She smiles at him as she rubs his flesh hand in her palms. She turns the lamp off, bringing the room into darkness. Bucky flinches, but calms down as Jennifer musters as much as she can to calm him enough to give him a peaceful night's sleep. He falls asleep within fifteen minutes. Jennifer glances at her watch and sees it's 11:30. She silently goes to her room to get some sleep herself.

A/N

I promise this is the last new fic for a bit! I will only publish another if all of my books have at least five chapters!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy Let Me Help!

💙🖤💙 Michelle


	2. The Morning

Jennifer wakes from a restless night of sleep. She had absorbed so much negative emotions the previous night, more than she ever had. She had tossed and turned, anxiety ridden, feeling pangs of guilt. She tosses her hair up in a messy bun and puts her glasses on. She looks in her mirror to see if she is somewhat presentable. Upon deciding she is, even with her black sweat pants and loose green t-shirt on. She shrugs the sleeve that likes to fall off her shoulder back on. 

When she leaves her room, she sees Bucky standing in the hallway, alert and silent. Though his emotions aren't as easily read as before, Jennifer can still faintly feel them. He's anxious, confused, and guilt ridden. He is falling into the same pattern he had as the Winter Soldier, waiting for orders. 

Jennifer walks toward him cautiously, not wanting to startle him. When he sees her, his eyes convey all he feels, confirming the faint feelings Jennifer recieved. She stands in front of him, looking up toward his face as he towers above her. Not knowing what to do, Jennifer tries to strike up a conversation. "So, Bucky, how did you sleep last night?"

"Good," he says, a hint of nervousness in his voice. He scans Jennifer with his eyes. He returns his gaze to her eyes, though occasionally glancing around him. "Did you?"

Jennifer shrugs, her sleeve drooping off her shoulder. "I've had worse nights." She feels some concern radiate off of Bucky. "It's alright. No nightmares. I just tossed and turned. Can you please come to the kitchen? You've had a rough few days. You need to eat."

Slowly, Bucky follows her. It's been seventy years since he's been asked to do something, not ordered or forced. Jennifer smiles reassuringly. "What would you like for breakfast?"

She feels his confusion at being asked something so simple. It throws him off guard. "I, uh, what do you have?"

"I can make something. Pancakes, waffles, eggs, bagels, bacon, sausage. You choose," Jennifer says, smiling warmly.

Bucky hesitates, surprised. "I choose?" Jennifer feels his slight panic at being given a choice. He's amazed by the opportunity, but doesn't feel as if he can do it.

They reach the kitchen then. Jennifer turns to face Bucky and smiles with concern. "Of course, Bucky. You aren't with Hydra anymore. You can make your own choices. I want to help you recover. And that means I need to help you feel comfortable making your choices." Jennifer slowly reaches her hand to reassuringly rest on his flesh arm. "I'll try as hard as I can to keep you safe."

"How? If Hydra finds me, what can you do?"

"I, uh, I have a few tricks up my sleeves," Jennifer says, not sure if she should tell Bucky about her powers. _I think it'll overwhelm him too much right now. I'll tell him once I can, but only when he's ready. After all, I'm gonna be staying with him for a while._ "Just trust me, please."

"Why are you helping me? I'll just put you in danger."

"Well, you weren't going to get help from anyone, were you?"

"...No," he admits. He sighs. "Eggs?" he asks quietly.

Jennifer beams up at him. "Of course! Scrambled? Fried?"

"I, uh, scrambled."

Still grinning, Jennifer cooks some eggs quickly for the two of them, also throwing some bread in the toaster. In no time at all, she is sitting with Bucky at her kitchen table, handing him a plate with eggs and toast. "I added the toast just to mix it up, but I should've asked."

"You didn't have to ask. It's not just my food."

"You're much too kind." Jennifer walks toward the counter and grabs salt, pepper, ketchup, butter, and Tabasco sauce, as well as utensils. "Use whatever you'd like."

Bucky examines each of the condiments. He adds salt and pepper to his eggs and butter to his toast almost immediately. He also puts ketchup on. He studies the Tabasco for some time. "What is this?"

"Oh, it's a type of hot sauce. I put it on my eggs. You can try it, but don't put too much on!"

Cautiously, he lets a few drops fall from the bottle onto his eggs before he hands it to Jennifer. Jennifer drops some on hers before capping it. Bucky avoids eye contact, looking down at his plate. Jennifer leans toward him, trying to get a sense of his emotions. _He still has so much fear, but it's a lot better than last night. He still has so much guilt. Confused, yes, he has plenty of reason to be. Concern? Well, that should be normal in this case. Hurt? Desire, a desire to know who he is._

"Bucky, how much do you remember?"

He jerks his head to look at Jennifer, his eyes wide. "I, uh, um, I remember a lot of Hydra. Who I killed, what they did to me." He shudders. "And, uh, I don't remember anything about him other than that he's important for some reason. The man at the Triskelion, Steve Rogers." All of this is said quietly, Bucky not sure what to say or if he can trust Jennifer.

"I have an idea to help you." Jennifer finishes the last bite of her toast. "I'm gonna have to go to the store first though. Those are all the clothes I have that can fit you."

Bucky nods. "I'll stay here."

Jennifer stands up. "I'm going to get ready, then I'll leave. I'll turn a movie on so you won't be bored." Jennifer puts the DVD for _Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl_ in the DVD player. Bucky hesitantly walks to the couch, unsure of himself. "Go ahead. I hope you like this movie." 

Jennifer leaves to go to her room. She grabs some clothes and goes to the bathroom to shower. She showers quickly, washing her hair, body, face, and conditioning. After ten minutes, she gets out of the shower and gets dressed in her black leggings and turquoise shirt. She brushes out her hair and doesn't bother to dry it. Besides, it's probably healthier to let it air dry. She puts her glasses back on. She heads outside, saying farewell to Bucky, grabbing her wallet, and pulling turquoise flats on.

 _What should I do to help him?_ Jennifer asks as she walks to the nearest clothing store. _I have one good idea to prime his memories, to tell him who he is. But what about after that?_

Jennifer sighs, thinking about her powers. _I might be able to bring back forgotten memories. But it would be difficult, and Bucky would basically have to know about my powers for it to work. Do I trust people to know about my empathy and telepathy? And would he think I've been manipulating him?_

She grabs men's clothes off of shelves and into a basket as she walks idly through the shop. _Am I ready to let anyone know?_ Jennifer has not told her parents or two siblings about her powers, despite having them as long as she can remember. _I can't even tell my immediate family, how could I tell a stranger?_

Jennifer ponders why she never told anyone as she buys the clothes. _As a little kid, I didn't want to scare anyone. I didn't want to get anyone in trouble. As I grew older, I realized how dangerous it is, having these abilities. Who knows what would happen if anyone knew? If SHIELD knew, and Hydra, I'd be in a horrific mess._

Jennifer walks home, suspiciously eyeing her surroundings. _Well, no matter what I'll be in a horrific mess if anyone finds out about me and Bucky, regardless of my enhancements. And I'm not leaving him. If we're going to stick together, I should tell him. But maybe not yet. It's too much information for him to absorb now. He needs to recover a bit more after everything at the Potomac._

Jennifer walks back into her apartment. She hands Bucky the plastic bags she holds. "I hope their the right size."

Bucky takes the bags and thanks her. Jennifer sits down next to him, unsure of what to do next. "What is your idea to help me remember?" he asks quietly, a little afraid to learn for himself who he is.

"I don't know how we're going to get in, but there's a museum exhibit about you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's late because I wanted it to be good and I didn't like a lot of my writing, so sorry! I'll try to update around the 29th, but my mom has a C Section scheduled for that day, so we'll see what happens.  
> 🖤 Michelle

**Author's Note:**

> A/N  
> I promise this is the last new fic for a bit! I will only publish another if all of my books have at least five chapters!  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy Let Me Help!  
> 💙🖤💙 Michelle


End file.
